Academic Advisory Group for Cooperation Ireland

The Partnership, together with Cooperation Ireland, is inviting expressions of interest from academic researchers to take part in a volunteer advisory group to support the work of Cooperation Ireland in reducing marginalisation and strengthening local communities.

Cooperation Ireland is a peace-building charity that works to encourage interaction, dialogue and practical collaboration within Northern Ireland and between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

They are now embarking on a new programme of work to build capacity among young leaders and influencers within Loyalist and Republican communities.

The first stage in this work is the development and implementation of the LEGaSI Programme, which will support participants from Protestant Unionist Loyalist areas to build a positive vision for their community and provide them with seed funding to develop and implement social innovation projects.

As a member of the Academic Advisory Group, researchers will be consulted by Cooperation Ireland in an informal manner, recognising that many have limited capacity to undertake additional projects.

The advisory group will provide researchers with the opportunity to offer insights and illuminate the decision making of Cooperation Ireland, and to collaborate with other researchers across disciplines to achieve significant impact.

It is important to note that research expertise does not need to be confined to the conflict in Ireland. There is a wealth of research being undertaken in other fragile societies or conflict areas around the world and this evidence base could be drawn upon to support Cooperation Ireland’s work.

Academic researchers from all disciplines are invited to register their interest by emailing Dr Tristram Riley-Smith, External Champion to the Partnership, at tr356@cam.ac.uk outlining their research interests and the contribution they expect to make.